Social networking content management

ABSTRACT

A machine-controlled method may include receiving a file in a designated shared folder on a local device, automatically providing access to the file to a social networking website or service, and directing the social networking website or service to make the file available to users that are allowed to access a particular user account at the social networking website.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/555,824, titled “SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR HIERARCHICAL STORAGEMANAGEMENT USING SHADOW VOLUMES” and filed Nov. 2, 2006, which iscommonly assigned with the present application and is herebyincorporated by reference herein.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The disclosed technology pertains to social networking websites andservices, and more particularly to tools and techniques for an end userto manage content in connection with social networking websites andservices.

BACKGROUND

The use of social networking tools, software, and websites isincreasingly popular and the number of users and services continue to goup on a daily basis. For example, the number of www.Facebook.com usersworldwide has exceeded the entire population of the United States andthe number of professionals that use sites such as www.LinkedIn.com orwww.Plaxo.com is also on the upswing. Social networking users want tostay connected to previous, and possibly future, friends, familymembers, and colleagues that may be able to help them, and each other,find rewarding and meaningful jobs and careers.

Also, there are many collaboration sites that people may join in orderto post or comment on ideas or discussions such as Google Groups orYahoo Groups. Many of these sites require profile information, such as aphoto, personal history, career backgrounds, educational experience, andcontact information. Some services or websites require this informationwhile others allow it to be optional. Some of these sites allow an enduser to upload a number of different media files, such as photos,videos, or other images, for sharing or collaboration.

The explosion of social networking activities has generated a widevariety of problems and concerns. For example, end users frequently needto deal with multiple copies or sources of similar data such asprofiles, images, history, and contact info. End users are oftenrequired to learn how to use a number of different and unique interfacesin order to do similar operations such as upload, download, share, andaccess control. The loss of control that end users may experience overtheir content can be irritating to the user and possibly even troubling.For example, once an end user's image is uploaded to a social networkingserver, a copy of the image is then stored on servers that are outsidethe control of the end user. This means that the user has little, ifany, control over how long the image is to be retained, who is allowedto see the image, who is allowed to share the image, etc.

Users of social networking sites and services often experience a numberof problems and concerns in addition to those listed above. For example,redundancy may be difficult, if impossible, to avoid for an end user.That is, end users may find that they are performing the sameoperation(s) such as uploading, downloading, and sharing over and overat each of his or her social networking site or service. End users mayalso find themselves victims of neglect. For example, end users may bemissing updates at one or more social networking sites or services. Endusers may even find themselves victims of abandonment or expulsion dueto long term neglect. This could ultimately result in unintentional, andpossibly unrecoverable, loss of use for the end user.

SUMMARY

In certain embodiments, a user may manage and control his or her socialnetworking content at multiple sites using a single local device such asa desktop, netbook, or smartphone such as the Apple iPhone. For example,a user may place an image or other file in a designated shared directoryon the local device. The system may then automatically share the imageor other file with one or more social networking websites or serviceswhere the user has an account without the user needing to log into eachaccount at all, let alone take actions at the site such as “select,”“open,” and “close.” Consequently, the user does not need to worry aboutlearning how to use all of the interfaces for the various socialnetworking websites and services. Implementations of the disclosedtechnology may rely on dynamic storage technology (DST) drivers toprovide the user with a single directory view of multiple back-endstorage devices.

In certain embodiments, a web service can be used to access up-to-dateshared data that is controlled by the end user, not social networkingwebsites and services. For example, consider a situation in which an enduser deletes a local copy of an image. Any Facebook photo sharingapplication that previously had access to the image will no longer haveaccess to that image and, consequently, not be able to allow other usersto view the image. There is no need for the user to log into his or herFacebook account and delete the image from a shared album under theaccount.

The foregoing and other features, objects, and advantages of theinvention will become more readily apparent from the following detaileddescription, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram that illustrates a first example of a socialnetworking environment for one or more social networking websites inaccordance with embodiments of the disclosed technology.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram that illustrates a second example of a socialnetworking environment for one or more social networking websites inaccordance with embodiments of the disclosed technology.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram that illustrates a first example of a socialnetworking content management system in accordance with embodiments ofthe disclosed technology.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram that illustrates a second example of a socialnetworking content management system in accordance with embodiments ofthe disclosed technology.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart that illustrates a first example of amachine-controlled method of managing content for social networkingwebsites and services in accordance with embodiments of the disclosedtechnology.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart that illustrates a second example of amachine-controlled method of managing content for social networkingwebsites and services in accordance with embodiments of the disclosedtechnology.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments of the disclosed technology include new and uniqueapproaches that provide end users with the ability to manage and controltheir various social networking website accounts and content using asimple local file system metaphor. Consider an example in which an enduser desires to share his or her photos using social networking websitessuch as www.Facebook.com or www.Flickr.com. While such social networkingwebsites may provide interfaces for uploading and sharing images thatare interesting and powerful, the interface also tend to be independentand isolated. These tools are often cumbersome and not prone toautomation. For example, an end user would typically need to useinterface tools specific to each social networking website to identifyand upload images.

Embodiments of the disclosed technology may allow an end user to simplycopy to a certain local directory images or other files that the enduser wishes to make available to his or her social networking websites.Authentication, upload, synchronization, update, and/or deletion of suchfiles would be automatically performed for one or more of the end user'swebsites. For example, in order for an end user to manage all of his orher photos in his or her Facebook album(s), the end user could simplymove files into and out of certain directories on a local file system orother system that appears to be a local file system.

Once an end user has moved one or more images or other files into or outof certain directories, the system may automatically synchronize theuser's shared images or other files to his or her Facebook account.Consequently, the user may effectively collaborate with others that areusing the same social networking system without needing to actually usethe system. Also, there is no need for the shared images or other filesto be actually copied to or stored at social networking site servers.Accordingly, the user maintains significantly greater control over theshared content than he or she would have if the content were storedelsewhere.

In certain embodiments, the system may use actual local storage forstoring the pertinent files. Alternatively, the system may useintermediate shared cloud storage, i.e., remote storage with a mergeview as if it were local, to store the pertinent files. In otherembodiments, the system may implement both actual local storage andintermediate shared cloud storage for storing pertinent files.Regardless of where the user's content is actually stored, the systemmay effectively provide the user with a single, local file systemconsisting of a merged view of both cloud storage and local storage. Theend user does not need to know or manually detect which data is storedlocally and which data is stored at a remote location.

In certain embodiments, an end user may manage certain content, suchimages or other files, on a particular social networking site by using ashared folder on an electronic device, such as a desktop or laptopcomputer, PDA, smartphone, etc., to store the content. By moving thefile(s) to the shared folder, the user is indicating to the system thathe or she would like the file(s) to be made available to the particularsocial networking site. The shared folder can be optionally synchronizedto a cloud storage provider.

Consider an example in which an end user, from his or her Windowsdesktop, creates a new folder called “FamilyVacation2011” under thec:\facebook\photos\directory, i.e.,c:\facebook\photos\FamilyVacation2011. In certain embodiments, thisaction is identified by a dynamic storage technology (DST) driver thatis specifically designed to interface with the Facebook website and,more particularly, with the user's own Facebook account. For example,the DST driver may be configured to monitor for changes to thec:\facebook\directory and sub-directories either continuously, atcertain times, or when certain conditions are met. In the example, theDST driver would recognize that that there is a new directory called“FamilyVacation2011” under the c:\facebook\photos directory and,consequently, create or cause to be created a new album in the user'sFacebook account. The directory created in the user's Facebook accountmay have the same name or a different name.

Each time the user drops photos or other files into what the user mayperceive to be a “local directory,” those photos or files may beautomatically synchronized with the user's Facebook account and,consequently, appear in the newly created album. This allows friends,family members, and others to access, e.g., view those photos or otherfiles. Each time the user deletes one or more of the photos or files bydeleting them from the “local directory” view of the user's photo albumor other folder or directory, the photos or files may be automaticallyremoved from the user's Facebook album. If a certain photo or file hasalready been removed from the shared area used by the photo sharingapplication in Facebook, it is no longer available to be shared so theshared experience is affected immediately with no need to find a copy ofthe photo or file to delete.

Policies may direct or provide certain control over content to be postedto a social networking website. Consider an example in which a user hasgenerated a local policy, e.g., independent from any policy of theuser's social networking websites, to prevent the posting of images ofhis or her children to any or all of his or her social networkingwebsites. If the user accidentally copies some images into thec:\facebook\photos\FamilyVacation2011 directory that include images ofhis or her children, the DST driver would consult the local policy and,consequently, would not allow the synchronization of those files to theuser's social networking websites.

In situations where a user logs into his or her Facebook account andmanages his or her content directly using the Facebook interface, thesystem may synchronize the changes back to the “local drive interface”such that the user would see the changes at both ends. In other words, auser is not limited to using a single interface when updating his or hersocial networking content.

Detailed Examples of Social Networking Environments in Accordance withthe Disclosed Technology

FIG. 1 is a block diagram that illustrates a first example of a socialnetworking environment 100 for one or more social networking websites inaccordance with embodiments of the disclosed technology. An end user mayuser a computer 102 to interact with one or more social networkingwebsites 104, such as www.Facebook.com or www.LinkedIn.com. The end usermay use the computer 102 to manage content, such as images, videos,text, or text-based files, that the user wishes to make available to oneor more of the social networking website(s) 104. Other users may usetheir own computers 106-110 to access the content uploaded by the enduser to the social networking website(s) 104.

While the electronic devices in the illustrated example are personalcomputers, one having ordinary skill in the art will recognize thatother devices such as laptop computers, handheld computers, personaldigital assistants (PDAs), and smartphones may be used by an end user orother user in addition to or in place of a personal computer.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram that illustrates a second example of a socialnetworking environment 200 for one or more social networking websites inaccordance with embodiments of the disclosed technology. The socialnetworking system 200 is similar to the social networking system 100 ofFIG. 1 in that an end user may use a local device 202 to make contentavailable to one or more social networking websites 204 that may beaccessed by other users using their own electronic devices 206-210. Inthe social networking system 200 of FIG. 2, however, intermediate sharedcloud storage 212, also referred to as a cloud storage provider, may beused to store some or all of the content managed by the end user.

An end user may wish to publish folders and files to the intermediateshared cloud storage 212 to save the local device 202 from beingrequired to have sufficient storage to hold all of the user's socialnetworking content. For example, if the local device 202 has enoughlocal storage, the corresponding DST driver for each of the user'ssocial networking websites could run off of the local device 202directly. If the local device 202 does not have enough local storage,however, the intermediate shared cloud storage 212 may be used to givethe perception of a large local disk to the local device 202. This maybe the case where the local device 202 is a PDA or smartphone that hassignificantly less storage capacity than a desktop or laptop computer,for example.

Detailed Examples of Social Networking Content Management Systems inAccordance with the Disclosed Technology

FIG. 3 is a block diagram that illustrates a first example of a socialnetworking content management system 300 in accordance with embodimentsof the disclosed technology. In the example, the system 300 includes alocal electronic device 302 such as a desktop or laptop computer, PDA,smartphone, etc. The local device 302 has n local DST drivers 304A-304N,each of which is configured to interact with at least one of a number ofsocial networking websites or services 306A-306N. Each of the socialnetworking websites or services 306A-306N has a corresponding DST driver308A-308N, respectively, that is configured to interact with the localdevice 302.

In certain embodiments, which will be referred to herein as “push model”embodiments, the local DST drivers 304A-304N may be implemented as DSTagents that provide a merged view of data stored at the correspondingsocial networking websites or services 306A-306N, respectively, as ifthe data was locally stored, i.e., at the local device 302. Every time auser places an image or other file into a designated shared directory onthe local device 302, for example, one or more of the local DST drivers304A-304N may “push” the image or other file to the corresponding socialnetworking website or service 306A-306N, respectively. Each of thesocial networking websites or services 306A-306N may subsequently makethe image or other file accessible to other users.

In other embodiments, which will be referred to herein as “pull model”embodiments, the social networking-side DST drivers 308A-308N may beimplemented as applications that are each specifically configured tointeract with a corresponding social networking website or service306A-306N, respectively. Every time a user places an image or other fileinto a designated shared directory on the local device 302, for example,one or more of the social networking-side DST drivers 308A-308N may“pull” the image or other file into the corresponding social networkingwebsite or service 306A-306N, respectively. The social networkingwebsites or services 306A-306N may then make the image or other fileaccessible to other users.

Certain implementations of the disclosed technology may include acombination of “pull model” and “push model” implementations. Forexample, the local device 302 may interact with the second socialnetworking website 306B by way of the second social networking-side DSTdriver 308B and interact with the first and third social networkingwebsites 306A and 306C by way of the first and third local DST drivers304A and 304C, respectively. One having ordinary skill in the art willrecognize that there may be any of a number of permutations.

In certain embodiments, the system 300 also includes a policy database310 configured to store any of a number of policies 312 that may berelied on by any of the local DST drivers 304A-304N or socialnetworking-side DST drivers 308A-308N. The policies 312 may include anycombination of local policies or social networking website-specificpolicies. Examples of the policies 312 are described below.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram that illustrates a second example of a socialnetworking content management system 400 in accordance with embodimentsof the disclosed technology. The system 400 is similar to the system 300of FIG. 3 in that it includes a local electronic device 402 that has nlocal DST drivers 404A-404N, each of which is configured to interactwith at least one of a number of social networking websites or services406A-406N, respectively. Also, each of the social networking websites orservices 406A-406N has a corresponding DST driver 408A-408N,respectively, that is configured to interact with the local device 402.The system 400 may include a policy database 410 for storing one or morepolices 412.

The system 400 of FIG. 4, however, includes an intermediate shared cloudstorage 420, also referred to as a cloud storage provider, which may beused to store some or all of the content managed by the end user. Forexample, content that is designated to be shared with the user's socialnetworking websites is not moved to the corresponding social networkingwebsite servers; rather, the content to be shared is stored in theintermediate shared cloud storage 420, from which each of the socialnetworking websites or services 406A-406N may access the content.

Detailed Examples of Machine-Controlled Methods of Managing Content forSocial Networking Websites and Services in Accordance with the DisclosedTechnology

FIG. 5 is a flowchart that illustrates a first example of amachine-controlled method 500 of managing content for social networkingwebsites and services in accordance with embodiments of the disclosedtechnology. At 502, a user places an image or other file in a designatedshared folder on a local electronic device, such as a computer, PDA, orsmartphone. This may be performed by way of a drag-and-drop,copy-and-paste, cut-and-paste, or other suitable action. In certainembodiments, the user may simultaneously place any number of imagesand/or other files in the designated shared folder.

In certain embodiments, each file that is placed in the designatedshared folder is augmented with one or more markers such as an internalattribute, an external filesystem extended attribute, a header, acomment, or a tag. Consider an example in which there is a directorycalled c:\data\corporate_restricted. In the example, each file that isplaced in the directory would be augmented with two attributes:“Company=XYZ” and “RestrictedContent=yes.” A DST driver may consult oneor more policies that rely on these attributes as described below.

At 504, the designated shared folder is optionally synchronized with anintermediate shared cloud storage. For example, the image or other fileplaced in the designated shared folder may be copied to the intermediateshared cloud storage. In certain embodiments, the image or other fileplaced in the designated shared folder may be deleted from thedesignated shared folder once it has been successfully copied to theintermediate shared cloud storage. Such action may be based at least inpart on a user-defined policy, for example.

At 508, the image or other file is provided to one or more socialnetworking websites or services. For example, one or more DST driversmay interact with one or more social networking website interfaces. Incertain implementations, one or more DST drivers may be associated withthe shared storage side and “push” the data to the social networkingwebsite or service using interfaces defined by the specific website orservice, such as the local DST drivers 304A-304N illustrated in FIG. 3.Alternatively or in addition thereto, one or more DST drivers may bewritten as an application or agent that is unique to the socialnetworking website or service that “pulls” the data into the socialnetworking website or service, such as the social networking-side DSTdrivers 308A-308N illustrated in FIG. 3.

In certain embodiments, one or more DST drivers may be policy-controlledin that they perform certain actions with respect to images and otherfiles in a shared directory based at least in part on one or morepolicies. In these embodiments, a DST driver may consult a policy beforeproviding an image or other file to a social networking website orservice, as shown at 506. A policy may be user-defined, driven by aparticular social networking website or service requirements, or somecombination thereof. DST drivers may be configured to monitor,continuously or at certain times, for new content in a shared area thatmay need to be synchronized with one or more social networking websitesor services and vice versa.

Social networking websites often have their own policies that controlwhat type of content may be allowed on the site. For example, somesocial networking websites might not allow nudity or obscenity whileothers may encourage such content. In certain embodiments, a user maycreate a local policy that is independent of, e.g., more restrictive orpermissive than, a particular social networking website policy. Forexample, a local policy may indicate that certain types of content arenot to be allowed on one or more social networking websites even thoughsuch content may be considered allowable by the website policies. Incertain embodiments, a user may “train” a local policy by way sampleimages or files. The local policy may be tied to metadata such as name,date, and/or file type, e.g., no mp3 files are allowed, or to relevancy,e.g., no files that are like a certain picture or “corporate secret”file are allowed.

Certain policies may focus on attributes with which files may beaugmented. For example, if a policy indicates that files having certainattributes should not be published to a social networking website, a DSTdriver will not allow the file to be published to the social networkingwebsite pursuant to the policy if the file has those attributes.Consider the example described above concerning the directoryc:\data\corporate_restricted. If a file is placed in the directory, itwill be augmented with the two attributes described above (“Company=XYZ”and “RestrictedContent=yes”). In the example, a policy provides that anyfile from company XYZ that has restricted content should not bepublished to any social networking website. Accordingly, the DST driverwill not allow any file placed in this directory to be published to anysocial networking website.

In certain embodiments, a policy may further indicate that files havingcertain attributes are to be archived. For example, a policy mayindicate that any file having attributes indicating that the file isfrom company XYZ and that the file has restricted content is to be sentto a secure archive. The secure archive may include a local archive or aremote archive. Accordingly, a DST driver may prevent such files frombeing published on a social networking website and also send the filesto the secure archive.

At 510, the one or more social networking websites or services eachpublish the image or other file. As used herein, publishing an image orother file means making the image or other file available to usersincluding, but not limited to, the end user providing the image or otherfile as well as any friends, family, colleagues, etc. that the end userhas indicated, directly or indirectly, may be allowed to access, e.g.,view, the image or other file. For example, a social networking websiteor service may allow a user to view the image whenever a user visits orotherwise accesses the directory in which the image is perceived to bestored.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart that illustrates a second example of amachine-controlled method 600 of managing content for social networkingwebsites and services in accordance with embodiments of the disclosedtechnology. At 602, a user performs an action on an image or otherfolder that is currently available to one or more of the user's socialnetworking websites or services. For example, the user may edit, delete,move, or rename the image or other file. At 604, a DST driver mayoptionally consult one or more policies before taking any action withrespect to the image or other file on which the user performed in actionat 602. The DST driver may be either a local DST driver or agent or asocial networking-side DST driver.

At 606, the DST driver determines whether the change is to be propagatedto the social networking websites or services that are currentlypublishing the affected image or other file, if any. If there is no needto propagate the change, e.g., the file is simply renamed, or if apolicy provides that the change is not to be propagated, processingstops, as shown at 608; otherwise, the DST driver propagates the changeto the image or other file to any social networking websites or servicesthat are currently publishing the image or other file, as shown at 610.For example, if the user deleted the image at 602, the social networkingwebsites or services would no longer have access to the image and would,as a result, effectively cease publishing of the image immediately. Incertain situations, the propagated change may be transparent to otherusers that subsequently access the affected file.

Certain implementations of the disclosed technology include the use ofsharing restrictions and access control. For example, a user may wantsome of his or her friends or colleagues to see or access some of theuser's data but not other data that the user wishes to reserve for adifferent set of friends or colleagues. Such access control acrossmultiple social networking websites and services may be realized in anumber of ways. For example, the user could maintain a certain XML fileor other syntax file in a designated folder, e.g.,c:\Facebook\photos\AccessControl, that represents the user's desiredFacebook settings. The file could be edited manually or with a tool and,each time the file is edited, it may be synchronized, e.g., using aFacebook-specific DST driver, to the user's Facebook account.

In other embodiments, there could be extended attributes on each file inthe designated shared directory that indicates the desired accesscontrol to be used by Facebook. The user can use the standard toolsassociated with the file system to manage those attributes so that theFacebook-specific DST driver performs the specific actions directed bythe user. Alternatively or in addition, there could be a policyassociated with the particular DST driver so that the driver performsthe user-desired actions by default.

Certain implementations support a many-to-many mapping between contentand social networking sites. Consider an example in which a user hassocial networking sites S₁ through S_(N) and multiple personal profilesP₁ through P_(M). This may be pertinent in situations where a user wantsto reveal his or her current employer when collaborating with colleaguesabout his or her current job but not reveal the current employer if heor she is looking for a job, for example. If the user moves or changesjobs, the user can change the data one time and have it be synchronizedto multiple social networking site protocols without any need for theuser to log into each of his or her social networking sites and changethe personal profile. The user may accomplish this by way of a policysuch as those described above. Table 1 provides an example of such auser-defined policy:

TABLE 1 Profile Social Networking Site P₁ S₁, S₃, S₄ P₂ S₂, S₆ P₃ S₈ P₄S₅, S₇, S₉If the user changes his or her information in profile P₁, the system byway of a DST driver, for example, would propagate the change to socialnetworking sites S₁, S₃, and S₄ based on the policy.Detailed Examples of Specific Implementations in Accordance with theDisclosed Technology

Consider an example in which an end user copies an image, such as aphotograph, named “image_(—)1.jpg” to the following directory on his orher local device: c:\Facebook\photoaamilyVacation2010. A DST driver onthe user's local device may subsequently and automatically provide theimage to the following location:https://s3.amazonaws.com/fbalbums/FV2010. The DST driver may consult oneor more policies before providing the image.

In the example, there is a new Facebook application that is configuredto share photos in https://s3.amazonaws.com/fbalbums/FV2010.Accordingly, the Facebook application can recognize that there is a newimage, i.e., “image_(—)1.jpg,” to be displayed in an album on the user'sFacebook account that corresponds to the “FamilyVacation2010” album thatis stored on the user's local device. Another user, such as a friend orfamily member that has access to the user's Facebook account, may nowview the “image_(—)1.jpg” image in the user's “Family Vacation 2010”album.

If the user decides that there is something embarrassing in the“image_(—)1.jpg” image, or simply desires to remove it for some otherreason, the user may effectively remove the image from his or herFacebook account by way of a simple delete using a local electronicdevice, e.g., by executing a “delete” function on the file in WindowsExplorer. A DST driver will them remove the image fromhttps://s3.amazonaws.com/fbalbums/FV2010. As a result, the image is nolonger accessible by the user's Facebook album. The user did not need tolog into his or her Facebook account and delete the image manually fromthere.

Consider a situation in which a user moves and thus has a new address.The user may update a single file, such as a text file, spreadsheet,template, XML file, or HTML file. In this example, the system willdetect the change to the file and can be configured to automaticallyupdate any or all of the user's Facebook, Google Groups, or LinkedInaccounts with the user's new location information, for example.

Consider another situation in which the user switches jobs. The user canedit a single file on the local file system or interact with a localservice interface. In this example, the system will detect the changeand can be configured to automatically update the user's career historyinformation on his or her LinkedIn and Plaxo accounts, for example. Theuser can also provide a policy that directs the system to not update theuser's resume at www.monster.com, for example, or any other site theuser may continue to use for possibly even better future employmentopportunities.

General Description of a Suitable Machine in which Embodiments of theDisclosed Technology can be Implemented

The following discussion is intended to provide a brief, generaldescription of a suitable machine in which embodiments of the disclosedtechnology can be implemented. As used herein, the term “machine” isintended to broadly encompass a single machine or a system ofcommunicatively coupled machines or devices operating together.Exemplary machines can include computing devices such as personalcomputers, workstations, servers, portable computers, handheld devices,tablet devices, and the like.

Typically, a machine includes a system bus to which processors, memory(e.g., random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), and otherstate-preserving medium), storage devices, a video interface, andinput/output interface ports can be attached. The machine can alsoinclude embedded controllers such as programmable or non-programmablelogic devices or arrays, Application Specific Integrated Circuits,embedded computers, smart cards, and the like. The machine can becontrolled, at least in part, by input from conventional input devices(e.g., keyboards and mice), as well as by directives received fromanother machine, interaction with a virtual reality (VR) environment,biometric feedback, or other input signal.

The machine can utilize one or more connections to one or more remotemachines, such as through a network interface, modem, or othercommunicative coupling. Machines can be interconnected by way of aphysical and/or logical network, such as an intranet, the Internet,local area networks, wide area networks, etc. One having ordinary skillin the art will appreciate that network communication can utilizevarious wired and/or wireless short range or long range carriers andprotocols, including radio frequency (RF), satellite, microwave,Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 545.11,Bluetooth, optical, infrared, cable, laser, etc.

Embodiments of the disclosed technology can be described by reference toor in conjunction with associated data including functions, procedures,data structures, application programs, instructions, etc. that, whenaccessed by a machine, can result in the machine performing tasks ordefining abstract data types or low-level hardware contexts. Associateddata can be stored in, for example, volatile and/or non-volatile memory(e.g., RAM and ROM) or in other storage devices and their associatedstorage media, which can include hard-drives, floppy-disks, opticalstorage, tapes, flash memory, memory sticks, digital video disks,biological storage, and other tangible, physical storage media.

Associated data can be delivered over transmission environments,including the physical and/or logical network, in the form of packets,serial data, parallel data, propagated signals, etc., and can be used ina compressed or encrypted format. Associated data can be used in adistributed environment, and stored locally and/or remotely for machineaccess.

Having described and illustrated the principles of the invention withreference to illustrated embodiments, it will be recognized that theillustrated embodiments may be modified in arrangement and detailwithout departing from such principles, and may be combined in anydesired manner. And although the foregoing discussion has focused onparticular embodiments, other configurations are contemplated. Inparticular, even though expressions such as “according to an embodimentof the invention” or the like are used herein, these phrases are meantto generally reference embodiment possibilities, and are not intended tolimit the invention to particular embodiment configurations. As usedherein, these terms may reference the same or different embodiments thatare combinable into other embodiments.

Consequently, in view of the wide variety of permutations to theembodiments described herein, this detailed description and accompanyingmaterial is intended to be illustrative only, and should not be taken aslimiting the scope of the invention. What is claimed as the invention,therefore, is all such modifications as may come within the scope andspirit of the following claims and equivalents thereto.

1. A machine-controlled method, comprising: receiving at least one filein a designated shared folder on a local device; a driver automaticallyproviding access to the at least one file in the designated sharedfolder to a social networking website; and the driver allowing thesocial networking website to make the at least one file available tousers that are allowed to access a particular user account at the socialnetworking website.
 2. The machine-controlled method of claim 1, whereinthe at least one file in the designated shared folder comprises an imagefile.
 3. The machine-controlled method of claim 1, wherein the drivercomprises a dynamic storage technology (DST) driver.
 4. Themachine-controlled method of claim 1, further comprising synchronizingthe designated shared folder with an intermediate shared cloud storage.5. The machine-controlled method of claim 4, wherein synchronizing thedesignated shared folder with an intermediate shared cloud storagecomprises copying the at least one file to the intermediate shared cloudstorage.
 6. The machine-controlled method of claim 5, further comprisingdeleting the at least one file in the designated shared foldersubsequent to the copying.
 7. The machine-controlled method of claim 1,further comprising the driver consulting a policy prior to providing theaccess to the at least one file in the designated shared folder to thesocial networking website.
 8. The machine-controlled method of claim 7,wherein the access provided by the driver is based at least in part onthe policy consulted by the driver.
 9. The machine-controlled method ofclaim 7, wherein the policy is defined by a user of the particular useraccount at the social networking website.
 10. The machine-controlledmethod of claim 1, wherein the local device comprises one of a desktopcomputer, a laptop computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), and asmartphone.
 11. The machine-controlled method of claim 1, furthercomprising providing a user with a view of a plurality of filescomprising the at least one file in the designated shared folder and atleast a second file stored at a remote location.
 12. One or moretangible, non-transitory machine-readable media storingmachine-executable instructions that, when executed, perform themachine-controlled method of claim
 1. 13. The machine-controlled methodof claim 1, further comprising automatically augmenting the at least onefile with at least one attribute indicating that the at least one fileis not to be published to the social networking website.
 14. Themachine-controlled method of claim 13, further comprising: the driveridentifying that the at least one file has been augmented with the atleast one attribute indicating that the at least one file is not to bepublished to the social networking website; responsive to theidentification, the driver preventing the at least one file from beingpublished to the social networking website.
 15. The machine-controlledmethod of claim 14, further comprising the driver sending the at leastone file to an archive destination.
 16. A machine-controlled method,comprising: receiving an update to a file in a designated shared folderon a local device; a driver determining whether to propagate the updateto at least one social networking website that is currently publishingthe file; and responsive to a determination that the change is to bepropagated to the at least one social networking website, the driverpropagating the change to the at least one social networking website.17. The machine-controlled method of claim 16, wherein the file in thedesignated shared folder comprises an image file.
 18. Themachine-controlled method of claim 16, further comprising the driverconsulting a policy prior to the determining.
 19. The machine-controlledmethod of claim 16, further comprising the driver consulting at leastone policy prior to the propagating.
 20. The machine-controlled methodof claim 16, wherein receiving the update to the file comprises a userdeleting the file from the designated shared folder.
 21. Themachine-controlled method of claim 20, wherein the propagating comprisesstopping the at least one social networking website from publishing thefile.
 22. The machine-controlled method of claim 16, wherein the updatecomprises at least one of editing to contents of the file and a renamingof the file.
 23. One or more tangible, non-transitory machine-readablemedia storing machine-executable instructions that, when executed,perform the machine-controlled method of claim 16.